Evening Buzz: Times Square Terror Suspect Arrested
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/CRIME/05/04/new.york.car.bomb/t1main.bomb.suspect3.jpg caption="Charges have been filed against Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the attempted bombing in New York's Times Square." width=300 height=169]
Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer
The suspect in the failed bombing of New York's Times Square has confessed to recently receiving explosives training in Pakistan, court documents in the case show.
Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old Pakistani-American, was arrested last night, just before midnight, at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport where he was booked on a flight about to take off for Dubai. According to court documents, Shahzad also confessed to rigging the SUV with a homemade bomb and driving it into Times Square Saturday night, where it failed to detonate.
According to the criminal complaint, filed today in U.S. District Court, Shahzad admitted he got the bomb-making training in Waziristan. That's along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The complaint shows he returned to the U.S. from Pakistan on February 3rd. It quotes U.S. Customs and Border Protection records that reveal Shahzad told immigration inspectors at the time he had been in Pakistan for the last five months visiting his parents.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, investigators have arrested a number of suspects at a house where Shahzad stayed during that recent visit.
Tonight on 360°, we'll give you an close look at the prime suspect. See how investigators tracked down Shahzad. We'll also dig deeper on the Pakistan connections.
The other big story tonight is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There are reports the edge of the spill has hit a group of islands about 35 miles off the coast of Mississippi. 360's Gary Tuchman, his producer and cameraman have taken a boat there to see what's going on. They'll have a live report.
The spill is growing with about 200,000 gallons of oil leaking each day from a damaged well, nearly two weeks after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon sank off Louisiana.
Hundreds of thousands of feet of booms are set up all along the coast of the U.S. mainland from Louisiana to western Florida. But an aerial tour by the U.S. Coast Guard today showed some have given way or oil has gotten past others due to high winds.
Join us for these stories and much more starting at 10 p.m. ET. See you then.
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Filed under: Maureen Miller • The Buzz |
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Hi Anderson,
Two question, 1- what was the potential of this bomb e.g. Kill Zone , if it has the actual potential to kill hundreds of innocent people he should get the death penalty.
2 also your FBI is somewhat of a failure in detecting these potential threats e.g. don’t they even think about monitoring individuals that have travelled back and forth to renegade countries such as Pakistan?
The suspect (Faisal Shahzad) seems too happy with himself, as if what he did was actually a succesful operatiion. Why isn't anybody talking about his motives? what are they? religious, political, racial, or any other?
The answer might bring us to real problem we face as a country and as global community.
Isn't is strange that since the 1993 WTC bombing, through 9/11 and most recent events including the chicago arrests, as also the 7/11 incidents in Britain, most of the incidents have their origins in Pakistan – USAs biggest ally in the war on terror.
The players in these events do not come from Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela or the other countries USA considers "axis of evit"
Something to ponder about.. Do we know who our friends are ?
The fact of the matter is that someone needs to start asking questions. Why are all these supposed "attacks" foiled or "unsuccessful" when these were supposedly the guys who hijacked planes on 9/11 and flew them into buildings?
Next you got a guy trying to light his shoes on fire. Now we have to take ours off.
Next you got some kid flying into Detroit. I mean, really? Detroit? Detroit looks like a bomb hit it already. Who's trying to blow up Detroit? Answer: Nobody.
Now, we got this guy who is apparently "Pakistani-American" just at a time when we're attempting to figure out the direction our political forces are heading towards that nation.
Do you really need the smelling salt?
A guy who tried to blow up Times Square can get on a plane just fine, but our security forces would have you believe that we're safer because of all of our "new" security measures. Does it make you stop for even just a second and ask who's actually spinning this web?
Where on any planet would these scenarios make sense?
let me get this straight; they have a school where you go to train to be a terrorist...
It doesnt make sense that this guy gets caught and nobody thinks outside the box. To me it seem that this guy is working for us and his cover was blown or something along the lines, because if he is smart enough to graduate with an MBA and goes to terrorist camp that he couldnt figure out how to properly make a bomb. Then to top it all off he spills his gut s and tells us everything and the news know about it and reports it. If he is that smart it would have worked and he would have been smart enough to not get caught, it just doesnt make sense talk about that!!!
This man went to Pakistan to receive bomb training yet he has made probably one of the worst attempts ever at making a successful terrorist attack. He has left every clue possible to help aid the FBI in finding him. Doesn't this sound just a little too suspicious? Has anyone considered that he might just be a decoy to draw the attention away from an actual attack?
See something Say something the new battle cry Great job NYC!
As President Franklin Roosevelt said; "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" We cannot let them make us a nation of fear. We have never been so. As long as regular citizens keep their eyes open and allow themselves to cooperate with Law enforcement officials we can prove to these "terrorists" that we will think of them as no more than a bug to be crushed.
It is amazing that a man can drive a bomb into the #1 most sought after (and most photographed) terror spot in the United States, then try to flee the Country by paying cash for an International flight just minutes before it is about to takeoff, and our leaders can pat themself on the back for a great job. It was a great job after the fact that they were lucky that this guy was not that sophisticated. as a matter of fact, this guy di deverything wrong–including having a bomb that could not go off??? If anything, it gives the Professional groups like Al Queda a perfect blueprint of whhat to do, and the response. This was a huge failure for Law enforcement. The bottom line is, there is no way to prevent it, and we are not safe. Being lucky only goes for so long, and I shudder to think if this was run by Al Queda.
Annie, that's the very reason this little plot was hatched, just not by whom you're thinking. Do you honestly believe someone with real ties to Al Queda would "unsuccessfully" drive a car bomb into Times Square (a "bomb" that every expert has said was terribly put together and only "mildly" explosive)? This group has suicide bombers around every corner of the world, yet we've remained "untouched." You ever wonder about that?
They are regarded as the "master minds" of 9/11 and they can't put together a proper car bomb? Come on. Then, all of a sudden when this guy is captured he "spills the beans" on everything? This writing is honestly worse than Desperate Housewives. And, just to make the point even more clearly, the guy got all the way through airport security, got on his plane and was about to taxi when someone "finally" realized his name and it wasn't even security it was an airline employee. Are the juices flowing yet?
I'm unsure why everyone is taking this at face value when it looks like a horrible film plot gone wrong.
Many are comenting on the inepness of the bomber plan and execution, has anyone considered that it may have been a test on America to see our response?
We invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 for providing the area for al Queda to train its troops in, so why are we not doing something about Pakistan – they are doing the same thing!
Have any of the other companies that drill for oil offshore offered to help try to cap the oil so as to not allow the consequences for becoming worse? This would be a good chance for them to get some good PR; of course with all the mergers we are down to about several companies instead of more than a dozen or sol And are there any more plans to burn the escaping oil like they did one of the first days? The sooner this gets cleaned up the better for wildlife, humans, and our commercial fisheries.